Kentucky must open files on child deaths

Apr. 27, 2013

Written by

Jessie Halladay

The Courier-Journal

The Kentucky Supreme Court on Thursday required Kentucky officials to publicly release records of child abuse cases resulting in death or serious injuries.

The justices voted 3-3 on whether to grant a stay of a lower court’s order that the Cabinet for Health and Family Services open the cases. Because the court was evenly split, a previous decision by the appeals court denying the stay was upheld.

Franklin Circuit Judge Phillip Shepherd had ruled that The Courier-Journal and the Lexington Herald-Leader should be allowed access to internal reviews of cases in which children died or were seriously injured from abuse or neglect.

The lawsuit echoes a similar legal challenge brought by The Tennessean and other media groups.

Since October, the Tennessean has repeatedly sought records on children who died or nearly died under the care of the Tennessee Department of Children’s Services.

In December, the newspaper and a dozen other media groups filed suit. And in January, Davidson County Chancellor Carol McCoy ordered DCS to release redacted reports made following a child’s death or injury and provide a cost estimate. The agency submitted an estimate of $55,000 for the records of 200 children — a figure it later lowered to $34,000.

On April 17, McCoy ruled that DCS could not charge the media for producing records beyond a 50-cent-per-page copying cost. McCoy ruled the agency must turn over 50 recent case files for her review by May 3. The case returns to court May 10.

In Kentucky, the decision means the cabinet must provide case files following a protocol set out by Shepherd spelling out what information can be redacted and ordering the cabinet to explain each redaction. Shepherd had ruled that previous redactions were overly broad, making it impossible to assess how effectively the cabinet did its job protecting children.

Cabinet spokeswoman Jill Midkiff said the cabinet has never attempted to protect the names of social workers and has only made redactions to protect the privacy of some parties involved.

Attorney Jon Fleischaker, who represents the newspapers, said not only have cabinet officials not turned over every case requested, but Fleischaker also said they have failed to fully explain the redactions.